Each committee meets every four weeks and covers a different area (see Planning Committee Boundaries below).

Not all applications are considered by the area committees. For example, major applications and applications by the Council, its employees and councillors and their close relatives are normally considered by Planning Referrals.

Which applications go to a planning committee?

Planning applications are normally decided by planning officers, without going to Committee. The case officer will make a recommendation on the basis of Local Development Plan policies. The application is then decided by a senior Development Management Officer.

The Planning Committees usually only make decisions on planning applications for some major developments, those proposals considered by the Head of Planning and Building Control to have a significant impact, or those 'called in' by a District Councillor. In addition, all Council applications and those submitted by councillors or officers of the Council and their close relatives are decided at Committee.

How are applications 'called in' to planning committee?

Only District Councillors may "call in" applications they feel should go to Committee. If you have serious concerns about an application, you may contact your local councillor as soon as you are notified of the application. Call-ins need to submitted by the call-in deadline date on the weekly list of applications registered on which the application appears. If neighbours are re-consulted on amended plans, call-ins must be received within 14 days of the date of the neighbour notification letter.

District Councillors fill in a form stating why they are calling in the application to committee. These forms are published online in the planning application database. The application will only go to Committee if the call-in position with regard to granting or refusing an application is different from the case officer's recommendation. Sometimes there are call-ins from two councillors, one if the recommendation is to grant permission and another if the recommendation is to refuse, and these applications will always go to Committee. Only some applications can be called-in to Committee including Planning Applications; Householder Applications; Certificates of Lawfulness (Existing); Listed Building Consents; Advertisement Consents and Telecommunications Applications. Other applications, for example Discharge of Conditions or Non-Material Amendments, are decided by planning officers.

How to find out if an application is going to Committee

Under the Case Details displayed for each application, you will see a Committee field (which will tell you which committee it will be heard at) and a Committee date field (which gives the date of the Committee). These fields are updated as soon as we know if an application will be going to Committee, usually one week before the meeting.

In addition, you can check the Agendas for each committee to see which applications will be heard (see above for direct links to each committee). The agendas are published on our website at least one week prior to the meeting.

The Council does not notify interested parties if or when an application is going to committee.

Can I speak at the Planning Committee?

Agents and applicants, or members of the public who have made comments in writing to the planning department (on the website, by email or letter) on the application, can register to speak at the Planning Committee. Only one speaker for and one speaker against each application is allowed and each speaker will have 3 minutes only. You can register to speak between 9am and 4.30pm on the Friday before the meeting (meetings are normally held on Monday) by telephoning the Council on 01727 866100.

When you register to speak at a planning committee, you will be asked to provide your name, address and telephone number. Your name and address are required so that we can verify that you have made a representation about the application or are the applicant or agent. Only the applicant, agent or members of the public who have made written representations can register to speak at committee.

If you want to be the speaker either for or against an application, we will ask you if you agree to us sharing your name and telephone number. If you give us permission to share your name and contact details we will only share it with people who call us about that planning application.

If you are for an application we will only share your details with others who are also for the application. If you are against an application we will only share your details with others who are also against the application.

If you do not agree to sharing your contact details, we will make a note in our records that you do not wish to share your details.

We will give preference to potential speakers who are prepared to share their details because we consider it will improve the planning process.

Sharing contact details helps interested parties to contribute their points to the registered speaker and enables the registered speaker to represent their interests, so the committee get a more accurate representation of people’s views. If no one who wishes to speak is willing to share their details, the first person to register an interest will be contacted, and if still interested, will become the registered speaker.

We record all telephone calls made to Customer Services. We store all personal data recorded in that call on our system, including your name, address and telephone number, securely. We will retain these records for 30 days after which they are deleted.

A representative of the local Town or Parish Council or District Councillors can also speak to the Committee. District Councillors (who are not a Member of that Planning Committee) can each speak for up to 5 minutes.

Webcasts

We transmit and record all planning committee meetings held in the Council Chambers. Planning Committee meetings are normally held in the Council Chambers on Monday evenings (except on bank holidays) and start at 7pm - they can be viewed live from our webcast pages.

Please be advised that by entering into the Council Chamber you are giving permission for video (images and sound) to be recorded and transmitted live and as an archive over the internet and by any other means that the Council may deem to use, at its discretion, in the future. The webcast will be made available in the public domain for future viewing purposes.

All meetings are recorded and saved for six months; if you can’t view the live broadcast you can see the archived version (approximately 24 hours after the meeting) from the same webcast pages.